Top ten active NBA-ers from Chicago

Chicago has always had a rich history of basketball talent. Below are ten players, all of which active in the NBA right now.

10. Bobby Simmons
Simmons, a Simeon grad and former DePaul swingman helped the Blue Demons an NCAA tournament in the late 90's. In 2004-05 Simmons won the NBA's Most-Improved Player award. However, many best know Simmons for signing that huge deal in Milwaukee only to come back to earth the next season.

9. Anthony Parker
He might be the only guy on this list who is not the best basketball player in his family. (Sister Candace might take that honor). Regardless, this guy can play. The European journeyman was drafted in 1997, but spent a good portion of his career in Israel, where he won five domestic championships. He returned to the US in the 2006-07 season and has become one of the games better shooters.

8. Juwan Howard
Probably best known as a part of the “Fab Five” at Michigan, Howard went on to a solid NBA career, most notably with the Washington Bullets/Wizards. Howard, the number five overall pick in the 1994 draft, averaged career bests of 22 points and eight rebounds with Washington his second year in the league, when he made his only All-Star appearance. A graduate of Vocational High School, Howard has played on six different teams, and off the court, is well respected for being involved in a number of charities. After getting released by Denver last week, it’s possible he has played his last game in the NBA.

7. Antoine Walker
Walker played with Donovan McNabb at Mt. Carmel , before going on to star at Kentucky. Picked sixth overall by the Celtics in the 1996 draft, Walker has career averages of 17.5 points and almost eight rebounds. At one point early in his career, Walker was on the verge of becoming a superstar, but he couldn’t quite make that next jump. He did win a championship in a reserve role with Miami in 2005-06.

6. Michael Finley
The word that best desrcibes this former Proviso East guard is consistency. For the first 11 seasons Finley never averaged less than 13 ppg. and peaked in the 1999-00 season, where he averaged 22.6. The career 44% shooter has always been a reliable option with the game on the line.

5. Quentin Richardson
Last season's Whitney Young basketball team tried to dedicate their season to looking like Q's Dolphin squad in 1998. Richardson spent the better half of a decade being followed by Chicago. After Young, Q spent two years at DePaul, where in his sophomore year he lead the Blue Demons into the NCAA tourney. His NBA career has been consistent also. The former NBA three-point contest winner has averaged over 11 ppg. while spending the majority of his career on poor Clipper and Knicks teams.

4. Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose has won everywhere he has gone. The leagues newest up and coming point guard lead Simeon to back-to-back state titles in 2005-06 and 2006-07 before heading to Memphis. There he lead the Tigers to a two-loss season and was a hands'length away from winning a National title. While we might be a few seasons away from viewing his full potential, he has shown glimpses of being a superstar ten games into his rookie year.

3. Corey Maggette
The former Fenwick star has always been a reliable scorer and always a solid #2 option in any offense. In his ten year career Maggette has averaged just over 16 points and five rebounds a game. Spending the majority of his career with the Clippers, Corey he also has not been given many opportunities to win any titles, but that all may change as joined a young Golden State squad that looks like it might cause some damage in the West this season.

2. Kevin Garnett
Many can argue that Garnett should not be on the list because he spent one season in the city. But KG was one half of maybe the most dynamic duo Chicago has ever seen playing alongside Ronny Fields at Farragut in the 1994-95 season. Since then, Garnett has been nothing short of dominating in his 14 NBA seasons which includes a championship last season. It was also Garnett that made the push for high schoolers to skip college and head straight to pros.

1. Dwyane Wade
Wade is one of the games top ten players. He lead his Heat squad to an NBA title in 2006 and arguably no one is more valuable to his team than D-Wade. The former Richards guard was overlooked throughout high school and virtually until his junior year at Marquette, where he led the Golden Eagles to a final four. Even during the 2003 draft many, many felt he went too high being selected #5 overall. Wade has proven doubters wrong.